The Dieter's Corner

I read your piece last month on maintaining weight loss. I just lost thirty pounds, so do you have any more good weight loss tips about this?

In his book Addiction and Change, Carlo D. DiClemente says "Individuals who have been most effective in maintaining cessation usually change the environment to minimize cues that rekindle thinking, craving, or longing."

Since you lost thirty pounds, you have obviously stopped overeating. The trick is to see if you can, as much as possible, stay in an environment that supports this change of behavior you have made. You now need to leave the past behind you—the past where you were overeating, probably as an everyday matter. Now you need to stay with your new alternative pattern with regard to food. You need to consistently eat in a way that maintains your weight loss.

Of course, you won't be perfect (no one is). But the more you can surround yourself with caring friends and family and understanding colleagues, the easier it will be to keep this wonderful weight loss success in place.

An environment that supports this change you have made also gives you a better chance of keeping your balance when you do have an inevitable slip. You can keep your overall commitment to yourself and get back to your maintenance eating especially when you are supported. And being able to get past a slip, without totally going back to your old way of overeating, is just what will allow you to keep the weight off.

At one time or another you will be faced with people or places or activities that used to contribute to your overeating. This cannot be totally avoided. But think of it this way. Losing thirty pounds is a big accomplishment, and since you did it, you must have acquired some good coping skills. You must have been able, for the most part, to maintain your commitment to eating less, even in a less than positive environment. Now is the time to call upon those coping skills again. In this kind of less supportive environment, you need to use those skills to avoid falling back into overeating.

Try this
List 5 things (or more) you did while you were losing weight that you feel really helped you get there. Think about how you can use those same strengths to keep the weight off.

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© Maria's Last Diet. Maria's Last Diet is an online weight loss support website for women. At Maria's Last Diet, you'll find the tools to fix the thoughts, feelings, and automatic habits that fight against you when you diet. Because it's never just about the food. Visit www.mariaslastdiet.com for more diet tips and weight loss motivation.

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